B/BISITA: Maginhawa, A ‘Hood We Love

It’s interesting how a street like Maginhawa—simple and homely in many ways—has evolved from a residential area into a bustling food destination. Being situated near two universities doesn’t hurt either; in between classes and after schoolwork, Maginhawa is bustling with mindful young folk looking to fill their bellies. Things have gotten even more exciting when the StrEAT food park opened its gates, inviting even more of Manila’s hungry hordes to chow down in this part of town.

From ice-cold beers and corn dogs to green tea eclairs in a shabby chic cafe, there’s certainly something for everyone. In a bid to get to know our neighbors a little better, B/Blog visits a few places and faces in this epicurean hotspot and discovers why a visit to Maginhawa is indeed a way to #lovelocal.

JETRO RAFAEL Van Gogh is Bipolar Shirt, shorts, and leggings by BENCH

Van Gogh is Bipolar has been one of the first destination eats in this area. What led you to open this?

I didn’t plan it, it happened spontaneously. Van Gogh Is Bipolar is an accidental restaurant. Primarily, it’s my safe haven. It’s my healing sanctuary. Through the diet that I created for myself, I serve the mood healing diet, it serves as my natural homeopathic medicine. When I started cooking and serving it to my friends, it became a restaurant.

What were you doing before this accident of a restaurant?
I used to work as an art director for McCann. Then I resigned. It didn’t work for me.

Nasiraan ako ng ulo (laughs).

Tea here is a highlight. What makes it so special?

It’s a mood healing tea. It’s only in Van Gogh Is Bipolar where you can experience this one of a kind tea. They are all organically grown from our farm in Isabela. It’s a very, very special tea flavor. For now, I have six flavors. There’s berry, it’s an extra upper. There’s guava, another upper. The mango to be happy and chill. The banana, a light kind of chill. The avocado, soothing. The guyabano, extra calming. And then there’s the house tea. I call it Buddha’s Holy Water. It’s made of gumamela.

The name of your café is apt considering the rainy weather lately. What’s the story behind it?

We figured that if city dwellers can’t go to the beach on a normal day, maybe we can bring the beach to the city. We just aim to promote love for Philippine weather and to embrace tropical food and the lifestyle.

Summer has passed—what do you picture when you think about it?

Clan outing somewhere the kids can swim while the titas cook food and the titos consume alcohol.

Avic:Yung group namin, puro filmmakers lahat from Mowelfund. We wanted to form a group so that we could protect ourselves from contracts with projects na hindi kami binabayaran. We wanted to be SEC-registered so we can have a legal name. Eventually, lumipat kami sa Cubao—Cubao Expo is a crucial thing for us kasi nag-evolve into an art space.

Avic:Kaya kami lumipat dito from Cubao Expo, because the time that we were scouting for a place, hindi pa ganito ka-thickly populated. Andito yung mga intelligentsia kasi it’s very near UP, Miriam, Ateneo. Feeling namin it’s a good place to start a neighborhood thing na hindi magiging commercialized—a laidback, artist community. We’ll open when we want to open, when we have time. If you establish a neighborhood business, it’s not totally a business.

JONATHAN & MONIKA EM The Baker’s Table On Jonathan: Polo and shorts by BENCH | On Monika: Pullover and shorts by HerBench

We’re loving the local candy inspiration behind your cakes. What led you to put up this concept?

Well actually, the candy cakes weren’t around yet when we first put this up. First, we wanted to sell our breads. During our first week, I thought of offering some cakes and then I was in the grocery, I found myself dun sa candy section and then I just realized maybe I can use some of these for cakes. First one we tried was Flat Tops and then it turned out pretty good. My wife, she bought a whole bunch of candies and she said, “Okay, maybe you can make all these other candies into cakes.” It’s basically trial and error. We try it and if they like it, we make more.

Butterball Cake

What can you say about the food community here in Maginhawa?

If you notice, most of the food establishments here in Maginhawa are very unique.

You can really see the owners put themselves in their products. Same with us, most of these candies are candies that I pretty much grew up with.

EMIL ONGCHUAN & PATTY MARABUT The Lost Bread Polo and blouse by BENCH

What’s the story behind the name The Lost Bread?

Patty: The Lost Bread is actually a direct translation of “pain perdu,” which is French for French toast. We actually love French toast and we saw na walang French toast restaurant saPhilippines. We opened this to serve different varieties of French toast. Kunyari, you go to breakfast places, you’ll see different flavors of pancakes but then there’s just one French toast item. We decided we can make a restaurant with several French toast flavors na savory and sweet.

If you could create a Pinoy­style French toast, what would you put on it?

Patty: We were thinking of having sisig French toast with egg, something like that. I think we lessened the menu offerings since we’re still starting but eventually we’ll do that naman.